Tag Archives: Oil-free Saute

Empty!

Three days back from being out of town. Almost nothing in the refrigerator! Have you ever been in that predicament? No time to shop yet. Hungry. Stomach says, “Empty! Need food!”

The game plan was make something from nothing. I found a box of angel hair pasta made with Jerusalem artichoke, half a small can of tomato paste, a container of mushrooms, a mostly used bulb of garlic, some parsley and a single leek that looked like it should have been tossed two weeks ago. I also had a box of organic vegetable broth that I keep in my pantry for emergencies.

The Play by Play

Here we go:

I boiled the pasta until it is just about tender (al dente).

Stripped the rotten leek until I found the inner layers that still looked fresh and green. I washed this thoroughly, sliced it and tossed it into a cast iron frying pan with about a quarter cup of veggie broth. I skipped the oil–don’t want it. The veggie broth is organic and has NO SUGAR. Be careful if you use prepared broth. Most has sugar. One that doesn’t is Imagine Foods but it is very strong in squash flavor which you may want or not. I used Field Day Organic Vegetable Broth made with water, carrot, onion, celery, sea salt and celeriac juice plus onion powder and garlic powder. I like these flavors and it is close to what I make myself when I make homemade broth.

Added crushed sliced garlic cloves (3 small) to the sautee and a pinch of sea salt.

Added ten sliced mushrooms.

Added 4 oz of tomato paste and more broth, some pepper, oregano and some onion powder. I simmered this until it was a rich and thick sauce. Add a bit more sea salt if you need it.

I turned off the heat and added some rough chopped parsley.

OMG!

This was sooo delicious! I cooked in the morning and ate it for breakfast! It is so good, I will likely make this again. There are endless variations but the thing that made the sauce really nice was a load of mushrooms and the tomato paste. Otherwise, anything you can find in your refrigerator goes!